Rosemary Bliss, 12-year-old champion baker of the world, must bake her way out of trouble when she is kidnapped by the Mostess Snack Corporation. Rosemary's trouble starts when a ridiculous bill, meant to protect large baking corporations, is passed. Small bakeries such as her family's own bakery are shut down. She has only just won an international baking championship, overthrowing her now rather bitter aunt (the previous champion) and drawing national attention, and now her family, who bring goodness to their town through their (literally not figuratively) magical baked delights, are out of business. When they decide to continue baking for free to help keep their town running well, Rosemary is kidnapped by the Mostess Corporation.
Click here to see the rest of this review...
At Mostess, she is given her own kitchen and set of assistants and a job: Perfect a set of five recipes (left behind, by the way, by her aunt) that will allow the Mostess Corporation to take over the world. Refuse and she will stay prisoner forever, and her parents (who are partway through brought in as prisoners) will be used as blackmail. Succeed and people of the world will be doomed by snacks that are magically addictive, turn the consumer into a mindless zombie, make them irrationally loyal to Mostess, inflict them with equally irrational hatred, and so on. Global pandemonium would break out, with Mostess in control.
With the help of her talking pet (who sneaks in with her), her chief assistant Martha and the others on her team, and her brothers (who also later sneak in), Rosemary realizes that she can pretend to cooperate and sabotage Mostess from within. She makes Mostess' evil snacks as requested, with the help of a leaflet left behind by her aunt (an important piece of the family cookbook Rosemary won back in the competition which had mysteriously gone missing). For every perfectly awful snack she creates, she also creates its antithesis - and equally good antidote.
Yet trouble still brews. Mostess plans to bring in Kathy Keegan, their only remaining competitor, who actually has a good heart and values local bakers' contributions, though she doesn't know how to use magic in her baking. By making her test Rosemary's work, they can simultaneously verify that Rosemary is cooperating and bring Kathy Keegan under their control. At first, they plan to have one plate with each good and evil type of snack, and to switch the good with evil at the last minute. While Rosemary is napping before the big event, Martha wisely gets rid of all the evil snacks and puts in two versions of the good snacks.
When Mr. Butter (who heads Mostess) catches them switching the snacks, he and Kathy Keegan both receive a dose of goodness. The good version of the last recipe in particular contains mother's love as the key ingredient - which Rosemary and her brothers sneak from her parents who are locked up in another part of the factory. This doesn't affect Kathy much as she has always had the appreciation she needed for an emotionally secure life, but it makes Mr. Butter start crying with remorse. He lets them all go and encourages a reverse of the bill that put Rosemary's family out of business in the first place. (It was in fact an evil international baking society of which Mr. Butter was a part that pushed it through in the first place.) Rosemary goes home with her family to put their bakery back in order. She also accepts an internship with Kathy Keegan, whom she now respects quite a bit. Kathy Keegan also finds she has quite a bit to learn from the Bliss family. Martha goes on to become a hot-air balloon operator, which was her longstanding (but often laughed-at) dream.
Best part of story, including ending:
There are quite a few parallels to modern society. Many modern companies, like Mostess, try to "addict" their customers with taste (though of course they can't use magic to do so). There are also local "Bliss" bakers that sometimes have trouble competing, and companies like Kathy Keegan's, who aim for the best of both worlds. Though she has her faults, Rosemary is also able to correctly view her situation and take a clear stance for what is right. Some sections of the book are a little unrealistic, though, although many middle schoolers are likely to appreciate this.
Best scene in story:
When Martha sends a postcard to Rosemary of her in her hot-air balloon, the last loose end is tied up. The author through this scene validates Martha and her dream, implying that she, too, is important, and that dreams should not necessarily be disregarded merely because others think them impossible.
Opinion about the main character:
Rosemary isn't perfect and she doesn't know everything, but she is also brave and knows what it right. With a little help from others and a little (ok a lot) of luck, she's able to make it.
